Press Releases

October 10, 2017

TimberFever Design-Build Competition Announces Winners

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TimberFever announces the winners of its third annual design-build competition which was held last month from September 21-24.

In an event presented by Moses Structural Engineers, architectural and civil engineering students competed in building a life-size structure out of wood. TimberFever was a tremendous success this year with 16 teams from six universities across Ontario participating in the competition. Participants were from Ryerson, Carleton, Laurentian, Queen’s, Waterloo, and University of Toronto. The event was held at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Students were tasked with building a “Reading Room” this year, and each team was given a limited amount of supplies, including plywood, screws, nails, brackets, a found object and a StopGap.ca access ramp.

TimberFever Design-Build Competition 2017 Winners:

1st Place Winner: Team Cherry Birch

2nd Place Winner: Team Ginkgo for “Woven Haven”

3rd Place Winner: Team Sumac for “Unravel”

People’s Choice Award: Team Ginkgo for “Woven Haven”

“We were blown away by the immense support of industry leaders who invested time in mentoring the teams and assisting with construction over the weekend, and judging the competition on the last day,” says David Moses, creator of TimberFever and principal of Moses Structural Engineers.

Over the course of the four-day competition, the students demonstrated teamwork, communication, time-management, and woodworking skills.

Kott Lumber and Tamarack Lumber supplied the wood for the competition; Stanley/DeWalt supplied the tools; and Carpenters’ Union (Local 27) provided hands-on support to the teams and helped them with construction.

The winners were chosen by a panel of judges, including David Moses from Moses Structural Engineers, Vaidila Banelis from Zeidler Partnership Architects, and Mike Buckley from PCL Constructors Canada (click here for the full list of judges and mentors).

“We wanted a design-build competition that would create collaboration between architects and engineers while they’re still in university,” says Moses.

“We are passionate about designing and building with wood, and we want to share all the positive attributes of this wonderful material with the next generation of designers.”

Moses first began the competition in 2015 with Ryerson University students only. TimberFever has since doubled in size and expanded to universities across Ontario.